A new Raiders' stadium could cost $800 million

One very conspicuous Raiders fan wants the team to stay in Oakland, preferably in a new stadium—and he’s putting his signature where his mouth is.

The Sacramento-area season ticket-holder known as “Dr. Death”—distinguished by his hardhat adorned with the team logo and the knives driven into it—has started an online petition pleading with the Raiders to not move out of town, particularly to Los Angeles, when their lease with O.co Coliseum expires after this season.

“Can you imagine taking the Packers out of Green Bay, the Yankees out of New York, the Lakers out of Los Angeles?’’ reads part of the petition on Change.org, written as a letter to owner Mark Davis. “We as Raider fans want to keep our Raiders where they belong, OAKLAND.’’

As of Tuesday afternoon, it had more than 7,000 signatures. The goal is 56,000.

Dr. Death also spoke, in costume, at the meeting of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority last month, at which a consulting firm hired by the Raiders proposed that the city and county build them a 50,000-seat, $800-million stadium.

He began his plea to the commission this way, according to Deadspin: "Behind this face paint and the knives on my head, I'm a 25-year-old college student that works part time at a restaurant."

He told SF Weekly that Raiders fans’ biggest concern is a return to Los Angeles, where the Raiders played for 13 years between stints in Oakland—and whose attempts to build a stadium and lure a team back continue.

"That's the equivalent of your wife cheating on you with another man and coming back saying 'would you take me back?'” Dr. Death told the paper. "Not many people would do that and to leave again you might as well consider your spouse dead."